News 08:00

BULLETIN 20 March 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA says there is an urgent need for a competitive energy generation market
# Donald Trump says his phone call with Zelenskyy was positive
# And tennis: Nick Kyrgios claims his first ATP Tour victory since 2022

# The DA says the unannounced return of load-shedding as an emergency act, will bring more economic devastation. Eskom implemented stage two load-shedding after it was hit by the loss of five generation units before the peak power use period on Wednesday evening. The DA’s, Kevin Mileham, says the bout of load-shedding with zero notice shows the incontrovertible need for a competitive energy generation market:

# ArcelorMittal South Africa says it is engaging with stakeholders, including the government, regarding funding that could delay the planned closure of its long steel operations. The steelmaker announced that it will cease long steel production of its mills in Newcastle and Vereeniging by April this year, impacting three-thousand-500 direct and indirect jobs. The company’s longs business operational loss doubled to 1.1-billion-rand in 2024, from 600-million-rand the year before. ArcelorMittal says without a funding agreement, the deferral of the wind-down of the longs business will not be feasible.

# ActionSA in Ekurhuleni is calling on mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakasa to resolve concerns raised by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department. EMPD members took to the streets on Wednesday to protest against overtime cuts, staff shortages, and a lack of essential resources. ActionSA’s, Michael Basch, says the protest comes after a citywide 50-percent cut to overtime budgets, a decision affecting multiple departments, including EMPD. He says this move has placed unbearable pressure on an already stretched workforce:

# US president Donald Trump has described his one-hour-long telephone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday as very good. Much of the discussion was aimed at aligning Ukraine and Russia in terms of their requests and needs. White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, says Trump and Zelenskyy instructed their teams to move ahead with the details of implementing a partial ceasefire, with discussions to include expanding any ceasefire to the Black Sea:

# Tennis: Australian Nick Kyrgios recorded his first ATP Tour win since 2022 in the first round of the Miami Open. The 29-year-old, hampered by foot and wrist injuries, beat American Mackenzie McDonald, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Thirty-eight-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils defeated Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, to become the second oldest man, after Jimmy Connors, to win at the Miami Open. In the women’s draw, three-time champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Japan’s Naomi Osaka are through to the second round.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-11-cents and the euro at 18-rand-76-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-55-cents and Bitcoin trades at 86-thousand-81-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-48-dollars-19-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 70-dollars-78-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….